prohibition

Thanks to everyone who has made a gift to KLRU during our drive so far! We’re at $107,000 as of this morning and getting closer to our goal of $240,000. If you haven’t made your gift yet, then tonight is the night for you: we’ll be live in the studio with an encore presentation of Ken Burns’ Prohibition and we’ll be offering tickets to the first ever KLRU Drink Up, a tour of local distilleries and breweries for KLRU donors!

The tour is a great representation of what Austin has to offer! We’ll board a bus at KLRU then head out for tours (and tastings!) at Live Oak Brewery, Tito’s Vodka, Treaty Oak Rum, and wrap up the afternoon with food and drink at BlackStar Co-op – a great selection of local business, innovation, and delicious beverages. The Drink Up is Saturday, February 4.

For your gift of $150, you’ll receive two (2) tickets to the Drink Up (which includes the price of the tastings and food), plus the Prohibition DVD set and the book, Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent. The Drink Up would make a fantastic gift or a great outing for a group of friends – be sure to tune in tonight at 7pm for all the details.

Bonus: We’ll also have the Tipsy Texan, David Alan, live in the KLRU Studios tonight mixing up the best holiday cocktails and giving away tickets to tomorrow night’s Drink Local Austin event! Tell your friends and be sure to watch!

On September 27th the KLRU Studio was transformed into a 1920’s speakeasy in celebration of Ken Burn’s documentary film series Prohibition. Guests were treated to libations by Paula’s Texas Spirits and Tipsy Texan, bites by Zed’s and Dagar’s Catering and music by White Ghost Shivers. There was also a sneak preview of the new documentary series.

Starting today, you can watch the first episode of Ken Burns new film series Prohibition on the free PBS App for iPad and iPhone before the entire series airs nationally on PBS, Sunday-Tuesday, October 2-4.

Set in the era of the bathtub gin, bootleggers and speakeasies, Prohibition tells the true story of the rise, rule and fall of the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution. It was called the “Noble Experiment,” but it was in fact one of America’s most notorious civic failures, an object lesson in the challenge of legislating human behavior.